Stormont slammed for 'shredding' £200m PSNI rebuild plan: Government abandoning duty to protect the people, says Police Federation chair in blistering conference address
Stormont leaders have “shredded” a £200m plan to rebuild the PSNI, which a senior policing figure says means politicians have “abandoned their duty to safeguard” the people of Northern Ireland.
Police Federation chair Liam Kelly’s revelation came during a blistering address to the body's conference yesterday, during which he stated a plan to put hundreds of extra officers on the streets won’t happen after the Executive refused to provide any extra cash for it.
The PSNI Recovery Plan, put forward by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher last year, would boost the police's headcount from less than 6,300 officers to 7,000 by 2028.
Speaking to the conference in Enniskillen, Mr Kelly said it now won’t happen after the Department of Finance refused to cough up £200m needed to pay for it – something he described as “a slap in the face to our officers”.
“The Recovery Plan has been effectively shredded,” he said. “It will not be happening unless there’s a last minute rethink by the Executive.
“The Department of Finance has recently informed the chief constable that it cannot find the money to support the plan.
“To say there is disappointment would be a gross understatement; it would be more accurate to say this federation is appalled by this decision. It is a slap in the face to our officers.
“It’s also the abandonment by an elected administration whose solemn duty and responsibility it is to safeguard the entire population and give us the tools to combat crime and terrorism, stamp out a multimillion-pound drugs trade, deal with people traffickers, investigate cyber and make our roads safer.”
The recovery plan, he added, was only the beginning of what should have been longer-term moves to substantially increase police numbers.
The chief constable, who was at the conference, described the now in-danger plan as “a modest and proportionate response to rebuild the PSNI”.
“The case is inarguable,” Mr Boutcher said. “I am determined to put back the officers that have been taken away over the years.
“Numerous independent bodies have set out very clearly the consequences of the unacceptable funding and its impact on our ability to manage high risk offenders, investigate and prevent serious crimes, deal with anti-social behaviour and tackle the intimidating activities of paramilitaries that ruin lives across our communities.”
He added that the police force is still struggling to meet £20m per year costs from Troubles legacy cases, which he argues should be paid from a separate pot instead of the PSNI’s main budget.
“If legacy was properly and separately funded, I could recruit a further 400 officers and the PSNI could provide the policing services we all desperately want to,” he said.
During his speech, Mr Kelly went on to suggest policing is at the back of the queue when it came to financial allocations, arguing Stormont is seemingly prepared to ignore the toll that comes from having too few officers, stuck with outdated equipment.
Pointing to planned increases in officer numbers in England and Wales, he said Northern Ireland is seeing the opposite, including the loss of 400 neighbourhood policing officers.
“We’re expected to be everywhere, do everything, avert, divert and problem-solve with an operational deployable total of around 4,500 officers,” he said. “Minister, it cannot be done. We are at breaking point. We need a lifeline.”
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said its officials agree with the case for the recovery plan, as long as there’s enough cash for to make it happen, but think it should be decided by the Executive as a whole.
They also believe it should be part of talks around Stormont moving to multi-year budgets, instead of single-year – which for now is only on wish-lists rather than a definite, as it involves convincing the UK Treasury to change the way Northern Irish public services are funded.